Jamie123

We set out to Bath today to check out the university for my daughter. We only got a few miles down the road before the car conked out. We had to huddle behind the crash barrier waiting for the recovery truck. The breakdown man said the head gasket had blown and it would cost at least £1000 to fix. I phoned the garage that he'd towed it to later and the garage man said it would need a new engine. But... we all got home safely with no accidents so there's something to thank God for!

I signed off my marks last night (I'm a teacher) and immediately worried I'd got them wrong and would have to the them changed by chair's action.
Spent the whole evening worrying - especially while I was out shopping. Woke up several times in the night CONVINCED they were wrong. Mentally ran through all the scenarios of how I would explain myself to "the man". Told myself that I didn't care. Realised that I did care. Got to work early an hour and a half early dared not look at the marks. Got the Bible out and read the book of Joel instead. (Remember the locusts?) Finally bit the bullet and got the marks spreadsheet up... The marks were fine. 

Hm.  I'm dumber than most, but what if the experiment involved a billion particles and Alice making a billion measurements?  Bob places his double-slit plate thingy in the path of his billion particles, and does nothing else to observe his stuff, besides look at the pattern.  One would think at some point, the pattern would change, right when Alice starts observing, right?

The difficult to understand answer is --- Yes!.  Now, I will try to make some sense with the example of the subatomic fermion particle we call a neutrino.  Initially the neutrino was theorized because observable nuclear reactions ended with the sum of it parts being less than the initial whole of all parts.  It was determined that the only way that such a thing could happen is if something was lost (that we never knew about in the first place).   Since the initial theory of the neutrino we have discovered a way to detect neutrinos - which is in essence to set up a reverse reaction minus the needed neutrino.  
In short a great deal has been added to our understanding since I studied particle physics some 55 years ago.  For example we have discovered that there are types or stages of neutrinos that change in time - but neutrinos are fermions that travel at the speed of light - but at the speed of light time is suppose to stop.  This means that there is a property of time that we have yet to discover.  Now, the theory of the day with neutrinos is that they are a "Dark Matter" element.  And yet no one has ever seen a neutrino (or even its trace in a bubble chamber). 
The point is this - if an angel or angels can dance on a pinhead the truth of it will eventually be discovered - thought you are correct the theory and argument over theory does little to reality.  What is truth can be discovered once we understand how to test for it.  It has always been my personal belief that there is no random event - just an event that has occurred outside our understanding --- Yet!  I am quite sure there are things about time and space (which we think we understand far more than sub atomic particles) that seem impossible at our understanding that are possible - when we understand reality beyond our current understanding.  As a retired scientist and engineer - the trick is knowing how to "test" what it is we think we know. 
 
The Traveler

We set out to Bath today to check out the university for my daughter. We only got a few miles down the road before the car conked out. We had to huddle behind the crash barrier waiting for the recovery truck. The breakdown man said the head gasket had blown and it would cost at least £1000 to fix. I phoned the garage that he'd towed it to later and the garage man said it would need a new engine. But... we all got home safely with no accidents so there's something to thank God for!

I signed off my marks last night (I'm a teacher) and immediately worried I'd got them wrong and would have to the them changed by chair's action.
Spent the whole evening worrying - especially while I was out shopping. Woke up several times in the night CONVINCED they were wrong. Mentally ran through all the scenarios of how I would explain myself to "the man". Told myself that I didn't care. Realised that I did care. Got to work early an hour and a half early dared not look at the marks. Got the Bible out and read the book of Joel instead. (Remember the locusts?) Finally bit the bullet and got the marks spreadsheet up... The marks were fine. 

Here's what I don't get...
(I'm not an expert on quantum mechanics by the way. Maybe one day I'll find time to study it "properly" and put to bed these issues, but for right now please accept my observations as the witterings of a rank amateur.
OK here's the scenario: Alice and Bob, together at X, create a pair particles, each in a "coherent" state, with 50% chance of collapsing (if observed) into an up state or a down spin state. The two particles are entangled, so if Alice's collapses into an up state, then Bob's instantly collapses into the down state.
Alice and Bob then move to A and B, which might be several light-years apart. They still do not observe their particles, so they are still in 50/50 superposition and still entangled. Then at a point A' (in the future of A) Alice looks at her particle and collapses it into the up state. At that same instant, Bob's particle (at B') must collapse into the down state. However, that means that a "message" (of sorts) must have travelled instantly from A' to B', which defies the "rule" that information cannot travel faster than light.
Most YouTube videos at this point say "Weird, huh? Maybe faster-than-light communication is possible! Wouldn't that be cool?" before moving on to something else.
However if Bob does not also observe his particle, he will not know anything about its spin state. Also, even if he did look at his particle and find it in the down state, he would not know whether he caused it to collapse himself, or whether it had already collapsed due to what Alice had done. The effect would be the same either way.
Or to put it another way, Alice's action would have changed Bob's uncertainty from "aleatory" (uncertainty of chance) to "epistemic" (uncertainty of knowledge).

So the only way Alice could signal Bob faster-than light would be to have Bob sit looking at the box containing his particle, and when he notices his uncertainty of the box's content changing from aleatory to epistemic, he knows that Alice has signalled.
But how would he tell the difference? It is only when Alice and Bob come back together (at Y) and sees Alice's particle that he receives any information at all.
One might say that the uncertainty was always epistemic: that the spin-states of both particles were decided at X, and it is only Alice and Bob's knowledge which is uncertain. But this (i) makes the whole thing even more boring and mundane, and (ii) requires the "local hidden variables" theory, which was (as I understand it) disproved by John Stewart Bell.
So can "action at a distance" really have any impact on reality? If so, then how? And if not, is it really any more important than the number of angels that can dance on a pinhead?

Here's what I don't get...
(I'm not an expert on quantum mechanics by the way. Maybe one day I'll find time to study it "properly" and put to bed these issues, but for right now please accept my observations as the witterings of a rank amateur.
OK here's the scenario: Alice and Bob, together at X, create a pair particles, each in a "coherent" state, with 50% chance of collapsing (if observed) into an up state or a down spin state. The two particles are entangled, so if Alice's collapses into an up state, then Bob's instantly collapses into the down state.
Alice and Bob then move to A and B, which might be several light-years apart. They still do not observe their particles, so they are still in 50/50 superposition and still entangled. Then at a point A' (in the future of A) Alice looks at her particle and collapses it into the up state. At that same instant, Bob's particle (at B') must collapse into the down state. However, that means that a "message" (of sorts) must have travelled instantly from A' to B', which defies the "rule" that information cannot travel faster than light.
Most YouTube videos at this point say "Weird, huh? Maybe faster-than-light communication is possible! Wouldn't that be cool?" before moving on to something else.
However if Bob does not also observe his particle, he will not know anything about its spin state. Also, even if he did look at his particle and find it in the down state, he would not know whether he caused it to collapse himself, or whether it had already collapsed due to what Alice had done. The effect would be the same either way.
Or to put it another way, Alice's action would have changed Bob's uncertainty from "aleatory" (uncertainty of chance) to "epistemic" (uncertainty of knowledge).

So the only way Alice could signal Bob faster-than light would be to have Bob sit looking at the box containing his particle, and when he notices his uncertainty of the box's content changing from aleatory to epistemic, he knows that Alice has signalled.
But how would he tell the difference? It is only when Alice and Bob come back together (at Y) and sees Alice's particle that he receives any information at all.
One might say that the uncertainty was always epistemic: that the spin-states of both particles were decided at X, and it is only Alice and Bob's knowledge which is uncertain. But this (i) makes the whole thing even more boring and mundane, and (ii) requires the "local hidden variables" theory, which was (as I understand it) disproved by John Stewart Bell.
So can "action at a distance" really have any impact on reality? If so, then how? And if not, is it really any more important than the number of angels that can dance on a pinhead?

I finished the entire Book of Isaiah for the first time a few days ago.  My eyes have now read through all sixty-six chapters for the first time.

I believe something similar may be
Pariah
Outcast
Abomination
Anathema
 I kind of like the advice you gave.  Here's what I've found in the four systems I've been involved in.
Most mainstream martial arts have something to them.  But people get this impression that they'll somehow get magically adept at fighting because of it.  No.  A large person will still beat a small person as long as both of them are at some minimum level of physical capacity.  A quick person will still beat a slow person.
A large fast yellow belt will still beat a small, slow black belt.
And within similar levels of training and natural ability, there will be some individual students who just get a feel for it better than others and are able to make maximum use out of the methods they've been trained in.  And you can tell the difference between a black belt who is really good and a black belt who just rose up because they put in enough time (and money) into the system.
All four of the systems I was in were like this.  It seemed no different than seeing a "College Degree" from someone who got straight C's vs someone with a 4.0.  They both got the diploma.  But one was obviously a lot better for the experience than the other.

It reminds me of an episode of Frasier, where Frasier and Niles are unhappy to discover that a new club has opened in town, and they're not members of it. They don't even know what sort of club it is, but they are determined to join it. After a bit of wangling and string-pulling they manage to become members, and discover it's actually a health and fitness club. For a little while they are happy, until they discover that there's a door they're not allowed to go through because it leads to the "Gold Member" area, whereas they're only "Silver Members". So it's back to the wangling and string-pulling until they finally manage to become Gold Members. They're happy again for a while until they discover yet another mysterious door in the Gold area. Furious, Frasier believes that some deeper paradise is being withheld from him (Platinum membership maybe?) so he storms through the door and finds himself out in the alleyway amongst the trash bins. End of episode.

It reminds me of an episode of Frasier, where Frasier and Niles are unhappy to discover that a new club has opened in town, and they're not members of it. They don't even know what sort of club it is, but they are determined to join it. After a bit of wangling and string-pulling they manage to become members, and discover it's actually a health and fitness club. For a little while they are happy, until they discover that there's a door they're not allowed to go through because it leads to the "Gold Member" area, whereas they're only "Silver Members". So it's back to the wangling and string-pulling until they finally manage to become Gold Members. They're happy again for a while until they discover yet another mysterious door in the Gold area. Furious, Frasier believes that some deeper paradise is being withheld from him (Platinum membership maybe?) so he storms through the door and finds himself out in the alleyway amongst the trash bins. End of episode.

This was yesterday actually, but I heard the song "Tell Your Heart to Beat Again" for the first time ever.
"Tell Your Heart To Beat Again" - Danny Gokey (Lyrics) - YouTube
I've never needed this message more than I do today.
 

This was yesterday actually, but I heard the song "Tell Your Heart to Beat Again" for the first time ever.
"Tell Your Heart To Beat Again" - Danny Gokey (Lyrics) - YouTube
I've never needed this message more than I do today.
 

This was yesterday actually, but I heard the song "Tell Your Heart to Beat Again" for the first time ever.
"Tell Your Heart To Beat Again" - Danny Gokey (Lyrics) - YouTube
I've never needed this message more than I do today.
 

"Joseph's coat annoyed his brothers,
But what made them mad,
Was the way that he would talk about
The dreams he often had!"
(Great musical! I first saw it when I was 11 and loved it ever since!)

Today is my 34th anniversary. My wife is over 200 miles away, while I lay in a hospital bed with a C. diff infection. Feeling a bit blue. But as a chance to reflect on the unparalleled blessings God has showered on an unworthy soul like myself, I feel humble and deeply grateful.
Sorry for the FB-like post, but I'm not much into FBing stuff like this.

"Joseph's coat annoyed his brothers,
But what made them mad,
Was the way that he would talk about
The dreams he often had!"
(Great musical! I first saw it when I was 11 and loved it ever since!)

Happy weekend everyone!

I just tried listing them all: Oddly enough I can easily list my teachers between ages 5 and 16, but after that it gets fuzzy. Some stick in the memory - like the math professor who taught us to do "carculus", but I couldn't for the life of me remember who taught me business studies.

I think I'll give Discord a miss. I used to get into a lot of "bad stuff" there. Though I've cleaned my life up (or more precisely God has cleaned my life up) there's no point raking up old temptations.

I think I'll give Discord a miss. I used to get into a lot of "bad stuff" there. Though I've cleaned my life up (or more precisely God has cleaned my life up) there's no point raking up old temptations.

I think I'll give Discord a miss. I used to get into a lot of "bad stuff" there. Though I've cleaned my life up (or more precisely God has cleaned my life up) there's no point raking up old temptations.

I disagree. It doesn't mean "make no provision for tomorrow" but "spend your day so that if tonight you find you must lay your life down, you will have no regrets"

What do you call bears without ears?
 
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